WASHINGTON - Harvard Medical School researchers have uncovered a new clueHuh? What? Who are you?
to the cause of Alzheimer’s disease.
The brains of people with the
memory-robbing form of dementia are cluttered with a plaque made up of
beta-amyloid, a sticky protein.
But there long has been a question whether
this is a cause of the disease or a side effect.
Now, researchers have caused Alzheimer’s symptoms in rats by injecting them
with one particular form of beta-amyloid.
Those rats had impaired memory
function, especially for newly learned behaviors.
When the mouse brains were inspected, the density of brain cells was
reduced by 47 percent with the beta-amyloid seeming to affect synapses, the
connections between cells that are essential for communication between
them.
The research, for the first time, showed the effect of a particular
type of beta-amyloid in the brain, said Morrison-Bogorad.- Associated
Press
Monday, June 23, 2008
Alzheimer's Answer Looms
Labels:
Alzheimer's,
Matt Hurton,
medicine,
national news
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I don't find your comments at the end of the post very humorous. My own grandmother has Alzheimer's and I have watched her over the years deteriorate to the point where she is now non-verbal and cannot get out of bed. Before you make a little joke like that, try to think of who might be reading it.
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